Video-On-Demand (VOD) movies and programs, as well as Internet Radio and audio programs have become widely available on today's Internet. Dozens, if not hundreds, of web sites offer streaming/downloadable movies and television programs, radio programs, etc. (collectively referred to as content). These web sites allow people to access this content from their computers and download or stream the content, such that it can be viewed or listen to. The popularity of these sites will continue to grow as home broadband Internet access increases and as this content can be viewed or listened to from people's home entertainment systems.
One of the drawbacks of these sites is that people must go to each web site and search the site to determine if the particular content is available. This can be time consuming and frustrating. Another drawback is that each these sites requires a computer to access the programs and shows. These sites only provide access to devices that support the web site (or HTML) interface. The invention will allow people to find content from many different web sites as well as be able to access this content from devices attached to their home entertainment systems as well as from their computers.
Some devices have been created to access video-on-demand content that has been downloaded to their personal computer. Unfortunately, due to lack of standards in video & audio file formats, delivery mechanisms, and content security, many of these devices cannot access the content from the current video-on-demand web sites. This invention will help the devices locate content which they can support.
In addition to web sites, cable companies also offer video-on-demand. Unfortunately, this version of video-on-demand has several drawbacks. For one, only the content provided by the cable company is available. Secondly, at present time, this content is very limited, totally only 500 to 600 hours. This invention will greatly expand the content available to an individual as well as release the individual from the constraint of only accessing content from a single provider.
Some video/audio device companies will naturally desire to connect with some of the content providers. This invention will provide a single communications protocol for joining many devices to many content providers.